Page 20 of Turning Up the Heat

CHAPTER NINE

HOLIDAYMUSICPIPED through the speakers at the Bal Harbour Shops, and the crowd bustled around Gemma, Celia and Lila as they made their way through various stores. Gemma loved the holidays, but she hated the crowds, the noise, the chaos, and generally preferred to do her gift shopping online. But when Lila and Celia had invited her along for a girls’ day, she couldn’t refuse. Otherwise, she would just stay at home and fail to talk herself out of calling Tom.

As they waited for their coffee orders at the café, Lila sighed. “I have no idea what to get Reid for Christmas,” she confessed. “He’s a grown man with his own money. If he wants something, he’ll buy it.”

“Why don’t you plan a vacation for you two?” Gemma suggested. “I know Reid sucks at taking time off unless he’s forced to do it.”

Lila mulled that over. “That’s a good idea. Maybe I’ll throw in never talking to him about wedding planning ever again.”

“It’s going that well?” Celia asked with a laugh.

“Every time he sees me on Pinterest, his eyes start to glaze over,” Lila said, picking up her latte. “How about your secret mystery man, Gemma?”

“Large iced Americano for Gummo,” the barista called.

“That’s Gemma,” she told the barista, but the words didn’t seem to register with him. It was the holiday season, and he had more customers waiting for drinks. “You don’t care what my name is, do you?”

“Peppermint tea for Sheila!” he said.

“That’s close enough,” Celia said, reaching past Gemma for her tea.

When the three were out of the café and back into the crowded, open-air mall, Celia sipped her tea. “Don’t think you’re getting away that easily. What’s up with you and that Cain guy?”

“Oh, boy,” she said. “I don’t need to bore you with that.”

“What makes you think we’ll be bored? Do you know us?”

“Fine. He was here.”

“When?”

“Earlier this week.”

“What?”

“Just for one night. He took his private jet and surprised me. We had dinner...” She trailed off, hoping something would come along and distract them. But no such luck.

“And what else?”

“I brought him home.”

“He flew down here for one night with you? So romantic,” Lila said, putting a hand on her heart.

“What we did that night sure wasn’t romantic,” Gemma joked, remembering the way he’d taken her, his commanding hand on her throat.

The girls all laughed. “So, when are you going to see him again?”

Gemma thought about it. “I don’t know. I probably won’t.” She shook her head. “It’s just too complicated.”

“Why is it complicated?”

“Because of his last name,” she said. That was the simple answer. “What, am I supposed to invite him over for Christmas dinner and say, ‘Hey, Reid and Quin, I know we’ve spent years fighting with this guy and his family, and your ex-wife stole from us and married his father, but we’re banging now, so can’t we put that all aside for the holiday?’”

“That’s some real Shakespeare shit, you know?” Celia told her.

“And see how it ended for those kids?” Gemma asked. “I told you, it’s complicated.”

Celia stopped in front of a store. “Oh, look, Lila, here’s the perfect gift for the man who has everything,” she said.

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